UNEMPLOYMENT RATE GONE ON RAMPAGE IN CAMEROON | Fab-book

The long line of hundreds young people standing in line in the scorching heat of the sun all in hopes of getting a job at a company seeking to employ 50 people, is a pathetic show of the reality of unemployment in Cameroon. On January 22 2018, manufacturing and production, company SOGEA SATOM, organised a recruitment forum in order to recruit 50 persons at the Djeuga Palace hotel in Yaounde Cameroon. About 3000 youths showed up.
Unemployment is a social challenge in most if not all economies; some more than others. In Cameroon, the unemployment rate has been on a steady climb since the early 90s and in 2018, the rate is still alarming.

According to Trading Economics,unemployment Rate in Cameroon increased to 4.51 percent in 2016 from 4.37 percent in 2015. Unemployment Rate in Cameroon averaged 5.16 percent from 1991 until 2016, reaching an all time high of 8.12 percent in 1998 and a record low of 2.90 percent in 2007.

while we do not know how these statistics are calculated, Cameroonian youths in need of a job or a source of income are increasing daily. Most youths currently do not use the certificates they acquired from school to make a living while a vast majority are not skilled enough for most positions that offer jobs at the moment. There is also the challenge of 'who do you know?'. When job opportunities present themselves most times, those in executive positions seek to employ a family member or friend.

Overall, we could say the ratio of persons in need of a employment to job opportunities present could be a whopping 15:1. Seeing as there are not enough jobs for every youth in Cameroon, it is imperative that these young people not only acquire necessary skills but also develop entrepreneurial skills that can permit them to create their own jobs and not wait for handouts from the government or private sectors which rarely do.

Unemployment in Cameroon is definitely a painful reality and for the government to be the major employer is a great risk for any economy. Therefore, drastic measures need to be taken to ameliorate our educational system such that our youths can acquire skills that will can boost the private sector and enable them to be creative and more entrepreneurial. This will definitely go a long way to boost the economy.